Chapter 1 - Happy Birthday, Kacey Langford

There it was. A tall, caramel-glazed apple cake with blue icing around the side. Seventeen baby-blue candles had been haphazardly stuck on top of it and it sat now on the centre of the table waiting for the birthday girl, Kacey Langford, to blow it out. Readjusting her blue plastic birthday hat, she brushed a curly, almond-coloured hair out of her face as she glanced up at the people around her. She was surrounded by her family: her parents, Benjamin and Gina, straight-faced as usual —which made a slight pang in her chest, they couldn't even bother to be happy on their own daughter's birthday?—; her older brother, Wesley, who had just come home from university to visit; and her younger sibling, J.T., who was hungrily looking at the cake whilst licking their lips. She sighed, closed her hazel green eyes, and made a wish. 

Wesley beamed and slapped a hand on her shoulder. "The big one-seven! How are you feeling?"

She gave a bright grin back. "Honestly, I'm feeling pretty good about this year." 

In her head, she did feel positive about the future in front of her. Yeah, her life was good enough as it is —she had two great friends, her grades were pretty good, besides English (some people would say it's because she had dyslexia, but Kacey maintained it was because it was a stupid subject); and she was one of the best tennis players in the school— but she still wanted to do better. 

"Well, you should be. The time's gonna fly by!" He playfully punched her in the shoulder and she smiled back good-naturedly. After a rendition of 'Happy Birthday', the opening of cards by unknown relatives and a hearty slice of cake, Kacey decided it was time to open the presents. She took off the birthday hat and gently laid it down on the table. "Guys, is it okay if I open these in my room?" She asked, looking around at her family.

Wesley shrugged. "Yeah, you're the birthday girl after all."

J.T. poked Kacey in the ribs. "Why? Is it because you don't want us taking your stuff?"

Kacey giggled and swatted them away. "That's exactly why, I don't want your grubby little fingers on my presents!"

She gathered up her presents and pushed back her seat, but her father placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why would you want to do that?"

Her smile wilted a little. "Well, I'd just like to open them by myself. It's honestly not that big a deal--"

"People were nice enough to give you presents," her mother interrupted. "and you're not even going to let us see you open them?"

"It's just--"
"This stuff isn't cheap, you know." she went on. "We work hard to get you the things you like, and you won't even do us the service of staying here? With your family?"

Kacey was about to argue back, but she felt a familiar sting in the back of her eyes. Her parents weren't seriously about to make her feel bad on her birthday, were they? Yes, she thought defeatedly, of course they were. "Mom, Dad, are you serious right now?"

"Kacela--" her dad warned.

Wesley cut in. "Guys, just let her have this." He looked at them pleadingly, not wanting to cause any more of a fuss.

GIna and Benjamin looked at him, then at each other. It was hard to say no to Wesley, and it was even harder when he was sticking up for his sister. "Very well, then." Gina conceded, plastering on a smile.

Silence fell over the room. Kacey excused herself and retreated upstairs with an armful of gifts.

Trying to shake off that uncomfortable feeling, she bounced up the stairs to her bedroom. Family photos decorated the corridor. A clock hung on the wall above the bathroom door. Stray dog hairs littered the floor, along with an array of chew toys.  Kacey came across a door that was left ajar, with a blue sign reading kacey!! in bubble writing. She used her hip to open the door, beaming. She dumped the presents on the sky-blue cotton duvet of her bed and tore into them with the same childlike glee she kept since she was a baby. She unwrapped the biggest present, a white parcel with blue stars dotted on the surface, and she excitedly held it up to her ear and shook it. She scrunched up her freckled face in curiosity, then she ripped the wrapping paper and revealed it to be a pair of white Nike Air Force Ones, with a blue tick on each individual side. She squealed in delight - she'd been wanting these all year - and gently placed them aside, ready to open the others.

A pair of socks, a pack of rainbow scrunchies, two bags of sour gummy apples and a pile of assorted clothes later, Kacey lay in the middle of her bed, staring up at the ceiling for a while. A draught of cold air blew in through the window, making her exposed, brown-and-white, toned legs shiver. She forgot how chilly it was in the early morning, but at least it reminded her to get ready for school. She sat up and got out of her bed, trundled over to the closet, and picked out her clothes for the day: a white baby tee with a cropped lace cami; a pair of stonewash mum jeans, cuffed at the bottom: blue jelly Doc Marten boots, so her pink bunny socks were visible; and a denim bucket hat to match her jeans. She cleared the presents and laid her clothes out, then discarded her pyjamas - an oversized shirt, shorts and socks - into her laundry basket, putting on a shower cap, grabbing a towel and heading to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Kacey hopped out of the bathroom and went back into her bedroom to get changed. Once she was done, she put on her lucky r-is-for-right ring on her ring finger, took a sparkly blue birthday badge from one of the cards and attached it to her chest. She grabbed her school bag and bounded downstairs. She was met by her Jack Russell terrier, Janko, who barked excitedly and ran around her legs.

"Hey, buddy!" She ruffled his head as he wagged his tail in delight. She smiled and went past him, heading into the garage to get her bike. Once she approached it, she whipped out her phone and checked the time. 8:07. Nice, she thought, on time as usual. She swung her leg over the seat, threw on her sticker-covered helmet and started pedalling. 

She arrived at the large, two-story building of Hollis High. She manoeuvered her bike to the left side of the school, hopping off and taking off her helmet. She chained her bike and made her way up the steps, opening the main door. As she bounced through the hallway, she got a lot of "Happy birthday!"s from passing students and staff members. She came to a halt at one of the classroom doors, peeking in and seeing two familiar faces. She opened the door and was immediately bombarded with birthday wishes and cheers.

"Happy birthday, Kacey!"
"Hey, birthday girl!"

"It's your birthday, right? Have a good one!"

She smiled politely and thanked everyone, scanning the room for the friendly faces she saw earlier. She barely had time to react when a pair of arms lifted her up and spun her around.

"Happy birthday!" Her best friend in the whole wide world, Karuko Masae, gave her a big bear hug. "You're older than me, this is panphobia." She rubbed her tan hands up and down her bandage-covered arms and grinned.

Kacey smiled back and looked behind her to see her second-best friend in the whole wide world, Nabila Chan. She enveloped Kacey in a hug, and being a good nine inches taller, rested her chin on Kacey's head. "Happy birthday, pipsqueak." She pulled back. "Still as tiny as ever." Her clear, British accent rang through the classroom and elicited a smile from Kacey.

"Hey!"